1. Place sweet potatoes in a 4-quart pot with enough cold water to cover. Cover pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer potatoes until fork-tender, about 45 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Drain potatoes. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them and mash them in a large bowl using the back of a fork.

4. Add soymilk, sugar, flour, egg replacer, vanilla and spices to the potatoes. Use an electric mixer to mix until smooth.

5. Place the piecrusts on cookie sheets, and fill them the sweet potato mixture.

6. Bake pies for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into its center comes out clean.

TIPS: Instead of boiling the potatoes, you can bake them in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for 45-60 minutes or until soft enough to mash with a fork.

Stefanie’s Sumptuous Hot Chocolate:

Recipes be damned. There is nothing more exciting and rewarding then concocting a delicious mug of hot cocoa every evening for dessert—both winter AND summer (I’m often cold ☺). Now that my disclaimer has been disclaimed, you are in charge of fine tuning and adjusting the amounts below to suit your own tastes.

Per 14-16 ounce mug: • 1-2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (nothing fancy required unless you are a super fancy person who does require) • 1 Tablespoon of Roma (or Inca or Cafix) coffee substitute (to create a hot Mocha if so desired) • Stevia and/or agave nectar to sweeten • 1 tsp. of vanilla extract • 1 to 1 ratio of water to soy/rice/hemp/almond/coconut milk • a splash of non dairy creamer to thicken it up • a sprinkle of cinnamon to help rebalance those blood sugar levels ☺

Bestest Vegan Key Lime Cheesecake:

This is one of my all time favorite desserts to serve at dinner parties in the summer. It has been quite a hit this summer amongst all! And the best-backhanded compliment I received was from my good friend who is a definite carnivore. She will eat vegan stuff for sure, but she’s very picky. For example, if it’s green, she won’t touch it. And she doesn’t like cheese. Or cheesecake. So when I served my vegan version, she tried it and said, to my utter delight, “Huh, I don’t like it. It tastes EXACTLY like real cheesecake which I despise.” Yes, another vegan dinner party SUCCESS. Enjoy!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Blend all ingredients in food processor (except the pie crust of course) 3. Put all ingredients into the piecrust and bake for 40 minutes 4. Let it cool 5. Refrigerate overnight—(I like this step the best because it gives me good reason to bake the night before. One less item to NOT have to worry about the day of the dinner party! Although also one more delectably sweet and tempting item sitting in your fridge—good opportunity to work on self-control ☺).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Cream butter, sugars, peanut butter and egg replacer in large bowl until light. Blend in baking soda, vanilla and oats until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop out dough for each cookie. Place on prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Press each cookie to flatten slightly. Bake 10 -15 minutes or until firm in center. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 54 cookies. If you decide to make them large (which I did because, after all, they are called MONSTER cookies for a reason!) use about 1/3 cup dough per cookie and bake for 15-20 minutes (yields 18 cookies).

(This recipe was inspired, and perfected, by Jeff Levine. . . a vegetarian NYC trial lawyer who bakes up a great batch of cookies in his free time!)

Vegan Stuffed Squash:

An alternative version of the traditional stuffed acorn squash with rice. Instead, replace rice with millet, an uncommon but nutrition powerhouse ( and gluten-free) grain.

Millet’s protein content is very close to that of wheat; both grains provide about 11% protein by weight. Millet is rich in B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folic acid, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc.

Another derivation in this recipe is to use a Red Kuri (Hokkaido) squash, a red-orange Japanese squash that averages about 5-10 lbs. each and is teardrop-shaped. The golden flesh is smooth, dry, sweet and rich. This squash is available year round and can be baked, braised, pureed, or steamed to be served as a side dish or used as a base for soups.

Ingredients:

2-4 Squashes (feel free to use any type you please!), halved lengthwise; seeds and membrane removed.

Note: Keep the seeds! Rinse the seeds, pat them dry, and spread them out evenly on a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed. Spray seeds with olive oil or Earth Balance, sprinkle with salt or other seasonings. Bake the seeds in the oven at 375 F for about 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

1 cup millet (prepare millet as stated on package instructions; use veggie broth instead of water for more flavor)

1 tbsp sea salt

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

3 cups of fresh baby spinach (add more or less as desired)

½ block of vegan Follow Your Heart Nacho Cheese chopped into small chunks (this adds great flavor and texture—optional, or feel free to use any other vegan brand you prefer; I highly recommend Daiya vegan cheese!)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup pecans, chopped (use any type of nut you prefer)

½ tsp salt

2-1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

cilantro–to garnish

Preparation: 1. Preheat oven to 375 F 2. Prepare millet and set aside 3. Place squash halves face down in a large, shallow baking dish or cookie sheet; bake squash for 30 minutes 4. In a skillet, sauté the garlic and onions in the olive oil; add all seasonings listed; add carrots, nuts, and vegan cheese and continue sautéing. Finally, add the spinach until all veggies are cooked to perfection! 5. Add the millet to the sauté mixture; mix together. 6. Remove the squash from the oven; scoop out some of the flesh and mix with the millet/veggie mixture; make sure to leave some squash flesh still in the squash! 7. Fill each squash half with the millet mixture until a mound forms. 8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until squash is tender all the way through. 9. Enjoy!

Schedule a Seminar Today!

If you would like Stefanie to be a speaker at one of your organization or company events, please contact her at stefanie@purposefulpalate.com. Click on the Events tab (Resources) to find information on upcoming and past seminars.

Testimonials

"...Stef has the total package--not only the knowledge but also the unique ability to enable clients to transform their diets, attitudes, and their lives."
Read more

Recipes

The Most Sinfully Delicious Sweet Potato Pie:

This pareve pie goes particularly well with Tofurky or Field Roast, at Thanksgiving or any time of the year. Read more